


A Flower Blooms Under The Stars

by orphan_account



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Cheesy, F/M, rom com
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-06
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-29 09:17:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3890896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jane's life is turned around after attending a wedding in the country</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm considering continuing this, let me know if you'd like to read more.
> 
> As always, no beta, I tried but there will always be something I missed. Sorry.

She'd been in the city too long, bent over a computer, sardined on the subway, squeezed into a shoebox apartment and the never ending paperwork that has long since buried her dreams. She takes one last look at the magnificent garden, the mansion covered in vines and breathes in that sweet air, she has stayed here for only a two nights and she wants to stay there a lifetime. With a heavy heart Jane hops into the back seat.

"Agh, I feel awful," Darcy groans from the drivers seat, smelling like gin she slides on dark shades the likes of which Jane envies as she tries to cover her eyes from the morning sun.

"So do I," the stars don't shine as brightly in the city, she had forgotten how sublime they are.

"Pretty damn fun for a wedding mind."

"Yeah," Jane reaches into her shirt pocket checking it it's still there, tentatively she takes out the small flower with a pale lavender hue from the wisteria trees that grow down the far side of the Odinson country estate.

"Do you think this place classifies as a mansion or a castle?" Darcy says turning in her seat catching Jane blushing with the flower in her hand. Embarrassed she turns away crudely shoving the flower back in her pocket, it smells so sweet and strong she finds herself blushing more and wishing she was alone. If she was alone she might have giggled, squirmed or even panicked. Last night felt like a dream, a pleasant terrible dream.

"What did you get up to last night? You were gone for half of it."

"Oh, you know, no- nothing um too um… exciting"

"Dude…"

"Darcy, please..."

"Did you get laid?"

"I'm really hung over right now."

"Oh my god, you dog!"

"Can we talk about this another time?"

"Was it that guy you were hung up on?"

"Darcy! I'll tell you about it later okay."

"What? Why later?"

Jane points out the window to Ian running down the road from the mansion two bags under his arm and one around his back.

"You said you already put my bag in the car," Jane says looking at Ian's pained expression.

"Well, he's basically an extension of me," Darcy shrugs popping the trunk, "You're telling me all the details next time we're alone, in exchange we are listening to my playlist all the way home."

"Darcy, it's a four hour drive."

"My playlists are perfection,"

"Yes alright."

"It's taken years to perfect it like this."

"Fine, okay, I got it, I know, I know."

Ian sits in the front passenger seat, seemly immune to free champagne and Darcy's stolen gin.

"I've changed my mind," Darcy says looking at Ian's carefree smile, "you're driving first."

...

_Fandral, their manager, invited them to his wedding._

_At first they didn't understand why, they were friendly enough with him, not friends enough to be invited to an exclusive wedding hosted by their CEO Odin on his country estate. It's a break from work with free accommodation, gourmet food and no doubt an unlimited supply of alcohol, they didn't question it nor did they care they were put in the servants quarters._

_During the rehearsal dinner on the first night it became painfully clear why they were there. There were very few people who didn't wear false smiles, who didn't judge your worth by your wallet and who ignored you if they didn't recognized your name. Fandral's friends were busy running the wedding battling each small disaster from bickering relatives to salad mix-ups. Jane, Darcy and Ian had been invited because they knew nobody; outsiders to the drama the bride and groom could vent to, they were the oasis of drunken normality._

_Jane, however, had been invited for a slightly different reason. Fandral dragged them over to meet his friends assuring them they wouldn't be so standoffish. Her heart leapt when she saw him, it had been so long, the heir of the Odinson family surely wouldn't remember her, already feeling dejected and nervous she considered turning around and avoid him altogether. Thor looks up as they approach, their eyes meet and his smile brightens._

" _Sif, Hogan, Thor, Volstagg meet Ian, Darcy and-"_

" _Jane," Thor clasped her hand interrupting Fandral who not subtly winked at her, "it's been too long."_

" _You two know each other?" Sif had not sounded cruel yet Jane's smile dropped at her words, in the brief moment Thor had taken her hand she had hoped that he was single and looking at Sif that hope was easily quashed._

" _Yes," Thor answered, "we met at a three day conference about… two years ago?"_

" _It must have been," Jane knew exactly how long it had been since they spent those three days together, not that she was hung up on him, she did think about the kiss they shared every now and then, kissing the heir to the Odinson family was not something you forget easily. It as more than that, Jane felt that in that time they shared a connection, friendship or more it's always sad losing that feeling._

" _I'm sorry I had to leave so suddenly, I have very few regrets Jane Foster, leaving that conference without your number is one of them."_

_Jane smiled and allowed herself to hope again. Only, he is so busy he barely has time to talk to her._

_Later, while the rest of the world slept Jane could not, she felt restless for the air after being away from nature so long. She was careful not to be caught, thinking it was probably not appropriate for a guest to wonder the property at night. Hidden amongst the rose bushes she lay next to the_ _Sweet Alyssum it's scent filling her senses. She became carried away by the stars she murmured the constellations under her breath. The smell of tobacco aroused her from her spell, hearing footsteps she sat up, hunching, ready to make a break for it. A flashlight stopped her dead in her tracks and she cursed shielding her eyes from its glare. She couldn't see his face properly; he appeared as tall shadow looming before her in the dark._

" _I thought I was the only trouble maker here," for the briefest moment the orange glow of his cigarette illuminated his cold handsome features before he drew it away from his curled lips._

…

By the time Monday morning rolls around Darcy no longer cares about Jane's dalliance, she's too busy groaning at the sight of the paperwork piled high during their absence.

Jane presses the flower and places it in her diary marking the date of the wedding so that she may return to that moment under the wisteria trees content for that to be all it is, a fond memory; a fantasy. The dress she wore remains unwashed, the perfume of the flower still emanates strongly so she had put it in a suit bag with the intention of taking it to the dry cleaners later in the week.

The week flows into another and she is consumed again by 9 to 5 office hours, entertaining clients, Friday night drinks with coworkers and she barely finds time to study the stars. This time it is different, Fandral is leaving for the big office once he returns from his honeymoon and the general consensus in is she is the most qualified to take his place. She is already filling in for him. It had never been Jane's intention to climb the ladder, it is by nature that she is hard working, it is not her dream job but the money is good and the people are fun.

This time it is different. Thor calls her regularly over the next month. They chat while she walks home from the station, while she cooks herself dinner and they laugh as they watch the same program of tv.

She smiles when she wakes up in the morning excited by this change, the city doesn't seem so grey, she sees more smiles on the streets and she remembers the kiss she shared on the night of the wedding and she swells with confidence. Today is the day Fandral returns to announce her promotion; he had emailed her the night before  _have a sleep in,_   _come in at 10. You've earned it._  She hums swiping her ID card on the elevator at 9:30 am wondering if she should find a new apartment, go out more and if Darcy knew anybody she could go on a blind date with.

This time it is different.

The elevator doors open to chaos.

…

" _I thought I was the only trouble maker here," his smooth accented voice made her stomach flutter, she shook her head, for all she knew the man could be an intruder or a psychopath._

" _Hey, I just wanted some fresh air, I didn't mean to cause any trouble," she stood feeling awkward in her pyjamas._

" _It does get rather stuffy in there," he turned the flashlight to his face, he looked ghostly against the light, dark hair cropped just below his ears with brilliant green eyes._

" _Fresh air?" offered his cigarette and she admitted she did not smoke; he shrugged and lowered the flashlight to the ground._

" _I should go," she blurted, "we all have an early start tomorrow."_

"Yes,  _tomorrow-" whatever he had wanted to say fell silent as another set of voices carried in the night. Jane ducked down immediately; the man chuckled, switched off his flashlight, squatted beside her and put out his half smoked cigarette in the grass._

" _It's Thor and Sif," he whispered leaning into her space, she was far too panicked to think about their proximity, she certainly thinks about it later, "they always come here for private chats."_

" _We should leave," Jane whispered back, his comment itched at her_

" _We won't get caught here," It's clear to her then that he knows them well and with haste decided that that was unfavorable for her._

" _I don't want to eardrop."_

" _Liar," his breath tickled her ear, instinctively she pushed him and succeeded in making him sway slightly._

_The voices did indeed belonged to Thor and Sif._

" _You have always been dear to me Sif," Thor sounded firm and frustrated._

" _Is that why you flirted with her? An office drone?"_

" _I have grown to think of you as a sister not a fiancé."_

" _I have not had such luxury."_

_It was too late to do anything, it wasn't a conversation they listened into it was a fight that Jane suspected she may have prompted. To suppress her groan she buried her face in her hands with no choice but to wait until they left. She liked Thor but felt this relationship between childhood friends was not something she felt comfortable interfering with. Jane peaked the man squatting beside her and although it is hard to tell she thought she could see him grin._

_It felt like hours had passed before Thor and Sif left._

" _Typical," her partner in crime scoffed beside her, unaffected he stood offering his hand to her, "I'll walk you back."_

" _No, that's okay," she took his offered hand feeling a little too miserable to refuse the support. His hand remained in hers after pulling her up._

" _Trust me," he said pulling her back towards the mansion, " know this place like no other."_

" _Who are you?"_

_He turned abruptly to face her._

" _You don't know?" She shakes her head and he asks her again shining the flashlight onto to her face._

" _No, stop that," she hissed._

" _No?" He turned the light on his face posing with a false smile, "I'm quite well known."_

" _No! You also don't have to hold my hand!" She pulled her hand from his._

_He looked at her flatly, then, as if he realized something, that false smile became vulpine. He barely suppressed his laughter. Jane figured that he is either mad or drunk. He switched the flashlight off and offered his hand again._

" _Come on, it's dark, I know my way back with my eyes closed."_

_The mansion lights had still been on when she left for fresh air, it seemed they long since been turned off and the only light available came from the sky above._

" _Use the flashlight," Jane said._

" _It'll attract attention, the Odinson's are not heavy sleepers."_

_She thought it was a poor excuse, yet Fandral would be embarrassed if she was caught wandering around private property._

" _I bet you're just afraid of the dark," she took his hand and he squeezes it happily._

" _Oh, terrified."_

…

"Where have you been? You weren't answering your phone!" Darcy rushes over looking disheveled, Jane is instantaneously alert, Darcy has never cared about who is late and work in general.

"Fandral told me to sleep in…" Jane rummages through her bag for her phone.

_(8) missed calls from Darcy Lewis._

There is paperwork scattered everywhere, phones ringing, people shouting and running.

"What on earth is happening here?" The blinds are open in Fandral's office, "Where is Fandral?"

"He left to meet with the executives for help but I think it might be too late."

"Help with what?"

"We are being taken over, we could loose our jobs and…"

"What?" the higher ups had said nothing about this over the past month "By who?"

…

" _So," he said, "you know don't you, who the girl their fighting over is?"_

" _Is that what your well known for? Being the town gossip?" She couldn't wait to get back to bed, the short amount of time she had been in this mans company was enough for a lifetime. He had dragged her into an uncomfortable situation and continued to be rude to her, he had yet to ask her name or give his._

" _Something like that."_

_He led to the kitchens entrance with a few false scares to his grand amusement. He made her duck to the ground and pulled her behind a tree only to laugh at her panicked voice. Jane could not think of who he could have been. She had met all of Thor's friends that night yet this man said he was well known. He knew where the spare key the staffs use was hidden. She felt a little loss when he let go of her hand, she figured it was only natural, it had been awhile since she been intimate with someone._

_Jane stood awkwardly for a moment as he marched in and started rummaging through cupboards. In the light she became slightly more embarrassed at her pajamas after seeing how immaculately dressed he was in a dark tight fitted suit and a forest green tie._

" _Well…" she hesitantly moved towards the door leading to the corridor._

" _They should just stop trying to hide it," he pulled out a tin box._

" _Thank you for showing me the way back."_

_He turned, eyed her timid wave before he opened the lid to the box and offered her one of the chocolates inside._

" _Um, thank you," as she reached he snapped the lid closed._

" _Tell me who they were arguing over," he leaned his elbows on the bench._

" _Are you trying to bribe me with candy?" Shocked and confused Jane laughed_

" _Chocolate… and Yes."_

" _I have multiple degrees you know."_

" _No!" he said with exaggerated enthusiasm "but do you have chocolate?"_

" _I'm going to bed now."_

" _Wait! Alright," he opened the lid and Jane celebrating her victory already takes three as her plunder._

" _Let's make a deal then," he bent down to her eye level with a smirk playing on the edge of his lips and languidly he traced patterns on the bench top with his finger, "I'll tell you who I am if you tell me about whom they were talking about."_

_No longer caring to humor this insufferable man she took another chocolate from the tin._

" _I'm afraid you're not that interesting" she lied._

_Jane knew Darcy was going to be proud of her, however she felt her victory was somewhat spoiled when he clutched his stomach in laughter, she shrugged it off and headed towards the door._

" _Wait, what's your name?" he said still catching his breath._

" _And you want to know that know because…?"_

" _Well" he shuffled his feet, "because I do."_

" _Right."_

" _I'd like to know the name of the girl I would like to garner interest from."_

" _More like garner gossip from, besides people have a habit of loosing interest in you once they don't recognize your name."_

_He paused for a moment, Jane did not think she would ever see somebody look conniving or turn that expression upon her._

" _What?" she accused feeling self-conscious._

" _Are you worried I'll lose interest in you?" he tilted his head._

_Stunned into indignant silence Jane rolled her eyes and turned to leave once more._

" _I'm Loki," he called._

" _Goodnight Loki."_

…

Fandral keeps his brand new office at his brand new job, meanwhile Jane's humble dream of a promotion and a heavier paycheck are in tatters. Everybody stands at their cubicles in silence as the new management strides in to inspect their victory over Odinson.

They stand in front of the office that would have been Jane's, waiting for the new CEO. New management means change, and change means redundancy. Most hold no loyalty to Odinsons, they eye these new gray faced suits with suspicion for this reason.

"Hey Jane," Darcy whispers from the cubical next to her, "Jane!"

Footsteps echo and heads turn.

"Yes Darcy?" Jane whispers back.

"This Job was meant to be temporary right? Don't be so down about it, quit and study the stars again, shit here is boring."

"Darcy," Jane knows her friend is right; this job is meaningless, "let's get drunk before we make any rash decisions."

As they muffle their laughter Jane feels a chill crawling up her spine. She turns just as he passes, she stares at the back of their new CEO as he makes his may to join his underlings. He's wearing a fitted suit and his dark hair is styled back. Jane's heart skips a beat for reasons she doesn't quite understand, it's not great to be caught whispering in front of the new boss but this sudden anxiousness goes beyond mild embarrassment. She feels like she knows him.  _I don't_ she reminds herself  _I don't know anybody by the name of Laufeyson._

He turns and faces the floor.

"I am your new CEO Loki Laufeyson," proud, domineering and smiling like he just ate all the cookies from the cookie jar, "you may address me as Sir and nothing else."

Jane doesn't process the rest of his speech, she stares bug eyed until his gaze wonders in her general direction, she looks down and attempts to subtly hide herself behind Ian in the cubical in front of her. Taking a peek she sees he is addressing the other side of the room, slowly she sinks down and crawls under her desk.

…

_Jane tells Darcy (and by consequence Ian) of her late night adventure and confesses making a move on Thor seems more complicated than she would like it to be. She doesn't tell them about Loki, she figured in the mass of guests for the actual wedding she is unlikely to see him again._

_The ceremony was beautiful. The ceremony was long. The friendly faces they met the previous put on smiles yet they seemed on edge, especially Thor who at times looked like he was waiting for a disaster. Nothing happened, vows were exchanged under a willow tree and their loved sealed in a contract. Sif caught the bouquet; she immediately looked at Thor who pointedly voided her gaze. Speeches were made and that champagne kept coming. Slowly Thor seemed at ease and even spared time to have a friendly dance with her. Most of the time they were ignored_

_The trio tried to make light of a bad situation, they entertained themselves during the ceremony and reception with champagne and a poorly conceived game spearheaded by Darcy who had persuaded them with "we are never going to see any of these people again."_

_A small competition of who and what could hold their attention the longest, Ian began under the instruction of Darcy introducing himself as Jed Duce a pro surfer from the grooms collage days. Darcy introduced herself as a famous taxidermist exclusive to the stars of Hollywood but found that her talent was wasted on Chihuahuas. Not feeling like talking to strangers Jane made up professions to draw them away. After talking to the guests the three would run off to giggle and exchange the stories, it was then they stumbled into a random office. It was then Darcy found the gin bottle. They decided to sneak it out and find an excluded place in the vast garden, and somewhere in-between the dodging, giggling and hiding Jane lost sight of Darcy and Ian for a moment, as she tried to squeeze past two brawly drunk men to get outside somebody grasped her arm._

" _Duchess!" An elderly woman with thick red glasses that enlarged her eyes had a firm grip and stared at Jane expectantly. In her tipsy state Jane stood baffled for a moment before realizing she had spoken to this woman earlier and Darcy had indeed introduced Jane as a duchess._

" _Sure, yes, that's me, hello" it dawned on Jane then what an idiotic idea that game was._

" _My friends have never met royalty before, do you mind?"_

" _Well, I was just heading out for some air"_

" _It won't take a second."_

" _So was I, need some company?" Jane cursed her misfortune, Loki had been absent the whole night only to turn up the moment she found trouble, and she couldn't tell if he was a curse or a blessing. His voice seemed honeyed compared to the blunt way he spoke to her the previous night, "Duchess?"_

" _Loki," the old woman looked apprehensive._

" _I won't be long," Jane seized the opportunity curling her fingers into the crook of his arm and ignoring the old woman's appalled expression she pulled Loki outside._

" _Duchess?" he barely contained his amusement._

" _Er well," she slipped her hand away still following him as they left the crowd, "we were playing a stupid game."_

" _I was also told you are the widower of a guitarist in a famous rock band."_

_She found herself smiling. He had asked around about her._

" _Oh god, um, champagne?" She offered._

" _You are a trouble maker," he glanced at her biting his lip, "so, if not a widower or a Duchess, are you a reporter who snuck in because you're a dom mistress to one of these grey faced drones."_

" _What?" she laughed, "also insulting."_

" _Hmm no?" he tapped the bottom on his chin, "are you perhaps married to a frail old billionaire with no children who you've been slowly poisoning for inheritance?"_

" _Also insulting and…" she paused catching on to his meaning, "are you asking me if I'm single or a sadist?"_

_Giggling he puts his hands up in defeat._

" _This wedding is a nightmare and you…" he hesitates trying to find the right word, "seem normal, like you don't secretly own a Bengal Tiger and bath in the blood of virgins."_

" _Yeah," she nods giving him a pointed look, "people here seem weird."_

" _And," he smiled so easily and it was too infectious, "I'd also like to not incur the wrath of some entitled meathead boyfriend who is the star quarterback of the football team. Does he sleep with his football?"_

_She bent over laughing._

" _I'll take that as a no then."_

_She didn't know where her friends were. Thor was preoccupied. Loki was interesting and oh so easy on the eyes. The way that old woman had seemed repulsed by him did not escape her notice, yet the opinion of these people meant little to her._

" _Alright Loki, lets hang, only you'll have to buy me a drink to get me talking about my disastrous ex-boyfriends."_

" _Oh," he bent down with a crocodile grin, "I can do you one better."_

_Hand in hand he led her into trouble._

…

Jane is panicking under her desk.

_Darcy. Help._

_Emergency bathroom meeting._

_After this._

_Darcy?_

_We should quit._

Jane stops texting when she hears Darcy's phone buzz in the cubical next to her. The noise could draw attention. Attention is the last thing she needs. Darcy leans over looking down at Jane biting her nails.

 _What?_  Darcy mouths. Jane shakes her head furiously pointing over her shoulder trying to indicate that she should be watching their new CEO. It all made sense now, Thor being tense during the ceremony, the way the old woman looked at him. Loki was a rival, a competitor after Odinson.

She feels like an idiot.

Darcy gestures in confusion and Jane lets her head fall in her hands wishing she was still in bed and this was some anxiety dream.

Somebody clears his throat and Darcy makes an unnatural yelping noise.

Jane looks up from her hands to see Loki stone cold looking down at her. The whole room is looking at them.

She doesn't just feel sprung, she feels doomed.

"Jane Foster?" He was so different, so icy, joyless and arrogant.

"Yes sir," she stays on the floor mostly out of shock, for the same reason she doesn't explain her current position.

"I'd like to see you in my office," he gives her an almost pitying look, "when it suits you."

He laughs through his nose and strides away with a trail of suits following him.

"What the hell?" Darcy leans over her cubical once the new management is gone.

"Asshole," Jane huffs in anger. The nerve! And now she had to work with this guy? Probably not, Jane is certain she is going to be fired. She'd just have to quit first.

…

_He did do better. Two bottles better. Their heist from the kitchen had been genius and their escape narrow. They wondered through the endless garden talking about nothing in particular and yet everything that mattered._

" _I've told you my dream now tell me yours," she had told all about her love of stars and how her theories had been ridiculed._

" _To have the world kneel at my feet," Loki takes a large swing of the champagne bottle._

" _Oh come on!"_

" _Are you making fun of my dream?"_

" _No, you haven't really told me your dream."_

" _You don't believe me? Perhaps I should show you instead."_

" _That's alright," she laughed waving her hands, "you don't have to prove anything to me."_

" _I want what should have been mine." He turned somber, bitter and Jane thought it best not to pry._

_They turned into an archway into a tunnel of wisteria flowers; the tall dimly lit trees took Jane's breath away. She placed her bottle on the ground and ran in with her arms spread wide._

" _It's beautiful!" she wondered if he brought her there on purpose, he did say he knew this place well, "It's properly romantic here!"_

" _They should have had the ceremony here," he placed his bottle next to hers._

" _Will you," he said falling to one knee, "sign a prenup with me?"_

" _Oh Darling!" she cried snatching the invisible engagement ring from him, "60/40 for a lifetime of resentment and belittling."_

" _As long as I'm allowed to keep all the embezzled money sitting in offshore accounts."_

" _As long as you're cool with me sleeping with my personal trainer."_

" _As long as I'm allowed to sleep with the nanny."_

" _Not Janice!"_

" _It's only fair you get custody of our spoiled psychopathic children."_

" _Hell no, joint custody or this womb is closed for business."_

_Unable to contain himself he fell to the side laughing and dragged her to the ground with him. On the grass, under the sweet smelling wisteria they laughed together until he kissed her or she kissed him. He kissed her forehead. He kissed her nose. He kissed her chin. He kissed her cheek. Fallen petals crushed under their weight as those light laughing kisses turned heated. His tongue felt promising. His touch felt thrilling._

" _Come back to my room," he breathed._

" _Sure," she kissed his chin and bit his nose. In retaliation he bit her ear then she slapped his arm._

_Neither of them thought about getting up, they rolled around on the fallen flowers, laughing and grasping at each other. His hands slid under her dress and his thumbs hooked into her underwear, he froze letting out a frustrated growl into her neck._

" _What?" she almost snapped._

" _Condom," he said moving off her. For a moment she was devastated, he gave her this sheepish apologetic and both of them crack up._

" _Well," she offered her hand, "let's go then."_

_Jane doesn't really remember much after that. They tried to get to his room only at some point he had been spotted by somebody too eager to speak to him, since she hadn't been seen he told her to meet him by the kitchen door. So they parted. On her way to the door she found Darcy trying to carry a sick Ian back to bed._

" _A little help here!" Darcy tried her hardest in vain not to let Ian fall to the ground. Friends before penis. That's the way it is. Jane reconsidered this as Ian, in an attempt to avoid hitting the hydrangeas, threw up on Jane._

_By the time she was cleaned up it was late and there was no Loki by the Kitchen door._

…

"I'm doomed," she mumbles to herself in the waiting room. As least she hadn't slept with her new boss only accidentally stood him up.

"Ms Foster," Loki's secretary wakes her from her daze, "he will see you now."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it came to my attention that this chapter was a little confusing to I've structured it a little differently.

 

 

“Did he fire you?” Darcy prods as Ian pours her another beer from the jug, their eyes trained on Jane in anticipation.

 

Jane moans, slamming back her tequila shot, her face scrunches and her squirm turns into a small dance as she bites on her lemon. The bartender laughs at her and pours another.

 

“Did he?” he asks.

No,” Jane says mournfully, “I was not fired.”

 

“That’s good right?” says the bartender.

 

“I guess,” Jane throws back the shot.

 

“Are we celebrating then?” Ian directs his question at Darcy who shrugs.

 

“Fess up, Jane,” Darcy gives her friend a stern look, already sick of beating around the bush.

 

“Well,” Jane coyly plays with a lemon slice, “I may have met His majesty King Loki before, at the wedding. And… maybe we might have… um, fooled around?”

 

Ian spits out his beer, the bartender laughs and Darcy slaps Jane’s arm.

 

“Owie” Jane sniffs rubbing her arm. She rests her head on the bar and tries to covertly pull out her phone.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Then it hadn’t been a big deal, then it was not her boss and Thor’s business rival.

 

“I am now?”

 

“Oh no,” Darcy swats away the bartender’s attempt to pour another shot, “no more for this drunken lunatic.”

 

“What happened?” Ian says finally recovering from his shock, “and who are you texting?”

 

“Jesus,” Darcy sighs and finishes her drink.

 

“Well,” Jane says pointedly ignoring the last question, “He called he into his office and…”

 

…

 

_“Sir?” Jane tentatively closed the door. Loki has taken no time to make this office his, the décor seemed to suit him, yet seeing this spacious classy office as his shocked her a little. She knew nothing about this man who sat at his desk and had not looked up from whatever he was reading._

_“You asked to see me?”_

_“Yes,” still focused on what he was reading he gestured to the chair in front of him. She quickly obliged._

_“I apologize for my rudeness before, during your speech” he looked at her then, a look of curiosity and a smile with a condescending edge that is a little more familiar than his stern persona she has seen since he bought the company. She is a little taken aback; she hadn’t the opportunity to admire his eyes in the light before._

_“Ah, a sick uncle,” she quickly lied realizing he was waiting for her continue, determined not to loose whatever game he was playing she did her best to hold his gaze._

_“Ms. Foster,” he leaned back in his chair with that amused glint back in his eye, “you might have been contacting you former employer, not that I’d blame you, I imagine it has been a confusing day.”_

_“It was certainly unexpected,” Jane is sure this is one of the most uncomfortable experiences in her life, having to convince a man she almost slept with not to fire her, “I assure you, sir, I…”_

_“But I did not call you in here because of that.”_

_“Oh,” her heart pounded, it occurred to her then that he may have called her there to talk to her about the wedding, about how she accidently stood him up, and somehow this seemed worse than losing her job. She had hoped he would not recognize her. She can’t look him in the eye any longer so she looked down at what he was reading. It’s a file. Her file. Behind him is a framed painting of wisteria flowers._

_“I wanted to speak to you anyway, before I found you…” his finger traces a pattern on the desk, “under your desk._ _I’ve heard good things about you… and your work here. It has come to my attention that you were to be manager of your department, I hope you don’t bear any resentment against me for giving that role to somebody else.”_

_“I won’t lie, it is a little disappointing but I understand that you’d use your own people. No, I do not bear any resentment,” Jane asked herself why she should care is she is fired, she had wanted to quit anyways, she didn’t want to keep doing the same thing. She doesn’t want to be fired by him._

_“You are one of my people now, are you not?” His finger stopped tracing the pattern._

_“I suppose I am now, yes,” however hard he tried not to show it this answer pleased him._

_“Your record truly is impressive for somebody who has been here for such a short time, many people here rely on you, you have been loyal to this company.”_

_“Thank you, sir,” she honestly did not know where he was going._

“ _I would like you to be loyal to me, I would like to rely on you.”_

_“Sir?” She had no idea what he meant by that._

_“I am offering you a position here Ms. Foster, as my assistant, who knows? One day you might make partner.”_

_“Sir?” the whole thing felt surreal, is this how life worked? Make out with strangers and you’ll get promoted?  Was this guy a massive creep? Did he stalk her?_

_“Accept this position Jane and you won’t have to call me sir, my secretary will show you the necessary documents.”_

 

_“Can I have some time to consider?”_

_“Consider?” he looked as if he did not expect her to be hesitant towards his offer, “what is there to consider?”_

_It seemed he did not recognize he just as she had hoped. A kind of euphoric relief brought a smile to her lips. He had her file because she is a valuable employee and the painting… maybe he liked flowers? Who cares? He didn’t recognize her! Her smile faded and she quite suddenly felt quite angry about it._

_“I don’t quite know who I am giving my loyalty to,” Jane answered._

_“Surely you know enough,” he leaned forward resting his chin in his hands, “do you want to get to know me?”_

_She cursed how his smile widened as her eyes did, regaining herself she laughed his comment away to lean forward and imitate him._

_“I have to be sure this job is my best interest.”_

_“Why would it not be?”_

_Jane froze unsure how to answer that, she could hardly tell him her hesitancy is because her true dream is studying wormholes in space only she is stuck in the corporate world because she is a laughing stock in the scientific community, or that she is unsure because they made out and apparently only she remembers it._

_“I’m not accustomed to waiting on others,” there is an edge to his voice as he regards her like maybe she might be worth the wait. She is reminded of when they first met and how he offered for chocolate for information, only now the chocolate has multiple zeros._

_“Like you said, it has been a confusing day,” Jane leans away reminding herself to be professional and offers a polite smile. He returns the favor._

_“Come in tomorrow afternoon then, I’ll be expecting an answer then,” he closes the file and stretches out his hand, she takes it trying not to notice his soft cool touch or think about where those hands had touched her._

_“Thank you, Sir,” she quickly dropped his hand and headed for the door._

_“Loki, please,” he called after her._

_“We shall see about that tomorrow.”_

…

… He offered me a job as an assistant or advisor or some crap,” Jane finishes frantically typing on her phone. She looks up at her friends and the Bartender, she doesn’t remember how he got involved in their conversation.

 

“So you got promoted?” he says questioning her pout.

 

“What should I do?” she bites her lips and looks at them all pleadingly.

 

“Take it,” he says like it is the most obvious thing in the world.

 

“What? No! You don’t need that crap Jane, this sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen,” Darcy did have a point.

 

“The money Darcy!” As did Jane.

 

“Fuck money! Go back to studying stars, that’s what you want to do, right?”

 

“We can’t get funding and everybody thinks we’re a joke, Erik has had no luck.”

 

“Did he recognize you?” Ian cuts in and immediately shrinks back under Darcy’s glare.

 

“Well, no," Jane throws a lemon peel at the bar.

 

“That’s good right?” Ian pats her back in a poor effort to cheer her.

 

“Yes,” she says  throwing the peel again.

 

“That’s a good opportunity then, right,” says the nosey Bartender. 

 

“Yes,” she buries her head in her hands internally trying to decide if that meeting was slightly flirtatious or not, not that it mattered. Her pleasant memory of a wedding fling was ruined. The dashing stranger is insufferably self important, she is glad then and there that she did not make it back to his room. How dare he not remember her when she so vividly remembered him! For a moment she considers a poor revenge of working professionally just to prove he didn’t affect her. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t remember. Jane tears at the lemon peel.

 

“It won’t make you happy Jane, all this crap is meaningless, haven’t you wasted enough time here?” Darcy never had the patience for cheering.

 

“Not everybody can afford to do what makes them happy, at the very least I would like to afford a better apartment,” Jane motions for another shot.

“So you’re just going to give up?” Darcy holds back the tequila bottle and gives Jane a look so rare and terrifying on Darcy. A serious look.

 

Jane stares at her friend, she knows she is drunk, she knows she is being pathetic and she knows Darcy is right. She had tried. She had put her blood and soul into her study only to be laughed at before she can even prove it.

 

She had craved change for so long, perhaps this is the change she needs. Before she can answer somebody taps her on the shoulder, she brightens at the sight of Thor and throws her arms around him. Thor chuckles squeezing her shoulder.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

Jane nods happy to see his friendly face in the midst of this chaos.

 

“Er, sorry?” Ian timidly offers, “we didn’t know she was texting you.”

 

“No, I asked to meet her. Are you guys alright?”

 

“Still employed,” Darcy and Ian cheers that.

 

“What happened? Are you alright?” Jane sits back down trying not to act as drunk as she is.

 

“We’ve taken a blow yes, however the battle is far from over. First, I need to catch up with you all,” Thor sits next to Jane, “What have you been having?”

 

“Tequila. Much tequila.”

 

“Bartender!” he calls with a grin, “much tequila please.”

 

When Jane tells Thor about her job offer he turns quiet looking at his empty glass deep in thought.

 

“Fandral told me you had promise, I had hoped I could steal you, but the position I had for you is not as good as the one he is offering you,” he continues to stare at his empty glass a touch ashamed of himself.

 

“I think I’d prefer to work with you, I feel like if I stayed we can’t be friends.”

 

“We’ll still be friends,” he roughs her hair playfully.

 

“We better!”

 

“You’re good at your job Jane, you deserve that position, but,” he looks at her pleadingly “Loki can be cruel, just know that no matter what you will always have a position at Odinsons.”

 

“Thank you,” she gives his hand a squeeze, “cruel?”

 

“Ambitious, Loki can’t let go of the past.”

 

“Who is he to you?”

 

“You don’t know?”

 

“Do I have a position at Odinsons?” Darcy interrupts before Thor can answer.

 

“Of cause,” Thor nods, “and you too Ian.”

 

“Do I?” asks the Bartender.

 

“I don’t know you.”

 

Talk of business is drowned in tequila. The rest of the night feels like a blur and by the end her sides hurt from laughter.

 

… 

 

 

Jane meets Thor for breakfast the next day. He kindly agrees to look over the papers while Jane marvels at his ability not to be hung over.

 

“I found a selfie we took last night,” she shows him a picture of the two of them pulling faces, “I’m going to use it for your contact if that’s alright.”

 

“Send it to me and I’ll do the same,” he flops the papers on the table, “it looks sound to me, are you going to take it?”

 

“It would be foolish of me to turn down such an opportunity.”

 

“Friends from rival companies,” his phone buzzes presumably receiving the selfie she sent.

 

“Don’t go quoting Shakespeare on me now, I will barf.”

 

“Would if I could.”

 

“Oh thank god.”

 

Perhaps it is coincidence that when she gets to work Loki is in the same elevator as her. However, there is no coincidence that there are only two of them in the elevator at such a busy hour.

 

“Ms Foster,” there is a coldness in his polite manner. _I’m not accustomed to waiting on others._ His brow is raised as he waits for her reply.

 

“Loki,” her smile is courteous as she stands next to him facing the door, “I was just on my way to see you.”

 

In the corner of her eye she sees him smiling in a manner that could be described as cute, Jane refuses to think so, yet a genuine smile also threatens to appear on her face. She clears her throat.

 

“So, will I be getting a new office?”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is more of this trash can full of corn.
> 
> It's been a long time since I took out the trash. sorry.
> 
> Fair warning I don't have a beta. I tried but there are always going to be mistakes. 
> 
> I suppose another warning would be that this chapter is my equivalent to a movie montage. 
> 
> I've structured it differently in this chapter. I've been trying out alternating perspectives in 3rd person limited so some sections are written in Loki's perspective. I've tried to keep some distance in writing Loki, I think he is often more interesting from somebody else perspective. What do you guys think?

Loki flicks the ash from his cigarette off the roofs ledge. Any other day he would be in his office during his lunch hour multitasking sustenance and emails or forgetting to eat entirely.

 

Today he had lost his appetite entirely. It hadn’t taken much. He had seen Thor’s number on her phone and her smile as she answered it.

 

“Yes, I’ve just finished up I’ll see you in five,” he hated the way she smiled at that moment, that she gathered her things in such a hurry that she knocked over a pile of papers.

 

“Ms. Foster,” his voice cut through the meeting room, “keep your personal calls to a minimum.”

 

It had been the first time he had directly spoken to her since she started. Jane was stunned for a moment. It doesn’t surprise him that she would look at him like that, he is certain she remembers him from the wedding. There he had shown her his softer side, the part of him had to burry for the sake of ambition. The part of him that loved, laughed and weakened him. He could not afford distractions.

 

“Yes sir,” she said as Loki turned to leave. Her colleagues looked down at her with smug smiles as they all shuffled out to lunch not a single one offering to help her pick up the papers.

 

It had only been four days since Jane started and Loki isn’t entirely sure why he hired her in the first place. He had done it on impulse, knowing full well Thor would likely offer her a job Loki assumed it would piss Thor off more to keep her. Thor is too predictable.

 

He did not expect to be annoyed that Thor would call a girl he had only spent two evenings with months ago.

 

He lights his second cigarette.

 

 _It matters not_ he thinks as he watches the bustling world below _a girl like that doesn’t belong in such a cold world._ A mouse won’t last in a pit of snakes.

 

“She’s replaceable,” he snuffs the cigarette out and tosses it off the roof.

 

* * *

 

 

Observe, analyse and try again.

 

Jane’s first week had been a disaster. She had been ignored, belittled, reprimanded and asked to make coffee. When pub night with Darcy and Ian rolled round Jane drowned her anger in shots of cheap liquor.

 

Darcy and Ian had carried her home both sighing at her incomprehensible complaints.

 

“It’s not worth it,” Jane remembered Darcy saying as she tucked her into bed. Jane pretended to be asleep until she heard them leave. For a long time she was too furious to sleep, she recalled all those moments in her life when she had been made to feel the exact same way. The ostracism she experienced due to her staggering intellect as a child, the struggle to be taken seriously when she began collage two years before most. The manner in which she had been ridiculed and then informally excluded for her more forward thinking theories. She pieced them all together. Jane burned with the realisation

that at every turn in her life she had been beaten down one way or another. She had simply gotten tired of holding up that shield and pressing through enemy lines. Taking that corporate job was Jane’s version of hoisting the white flag and it hadn’t seemed like defeat. For the first time in a long time Jane had been appreciated.

 

Something ugly stirred in Jane that night, a kind of determination born from spite. She was going to make them all cower before her. She was going to make Loki beg for her to stay. Now that she saw how the higher ups functioned she could try again and do better next week.

 

* * *

 

 

“Jeanine, read out how much this contract with cost us?” Loki set his trained impassive stare at the man he assumed was called Terry.

 

“Sir, if you just give me more time,” there were droplets of sweet on Terry’s temple and his hands left a little wet streak on the table. Jeanine read out the cost in her uncaring monotone voice.

 

The contract is nothing he can’t handle personally, its tedious and he’s tired of incompetence. He’s bored and the meeting room stinks.

 

“Jeanine, How much does Terry earn here?”

 

“My names not-“

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Nothing Sir,” the newly christened Terry bows his head as if waiting for his death sentence.

 

The door swung open letting in a breath of fresh air. Jane strode in making her usual flustered apology. Loki straightened himself in his chair. He could see there was something different about her in the way she held herself and in the way the corner of her mouth curled in the beginnings of a smile. He found himself killing his own smile, the way she sat before him then reminded him of how they both were during that wedding in the country. They had been devilish.

 

“Ms. Foster,” he managed to keep his tone tight, “we were just giving Terry a lesson in simple math.”

 

“Terry?” Jane looks around the table until Terry raises a shaky hand. At that point Loki knows man’s name isn’t Terry. _I’ll remember your name when you’ve earned it._ Chalk it down to motivating employees with a little healthy degradation.

“There’s no need,” she said smiling at everybody’s tense expression, “I’ve got the contract.”

 

“How?” Terry’s eyes bulge as he looks at her as if she’s put the noose around his neck.

 

“I did my research,” she passed the contract over, “in the end there was no need to compromise.”

 

Her polite smile is edged with smugness. He thinks in that moment that she has never looked so beautiful.

 

“Good Job,” Loki gives her a curt nod.

 

“It was nothing,” she’s proud of herself. Loki is too; he has never been so gracious when he takes revenge. “What’s next on he agenda?”

 

Long after the meeting ended when Loki is lying alone in his apartment he is still thinking about that moment. Jane is no longer a poorly thought out cheap shot at Thor. Jane is potential. Jane is also trouble.

 

That night when he closes his eyes he sees her. The image in his mind flickering from her sprawled out in the grass beneath him giggling as his lips ticked her ear, to the smile she shot her enemies in the board room as she claims victory over them.

 

 _Trouble indeed_ he thinks to himself as he gets up to take a cold shower.

 

* * *

 

 

 

_Sorry! Can’t come to drinks this week. Again, I know. Miss you Darcy, see you soon?_

 

Jane pulled her coat tight around herself silently cursing every taxi that passed her by. She needed to unwind and lately she had not found anytime. All day she had fanaticized about laying in bed with a cup of tea and a dense book on astrophysics.

 

“Goddamn it,” she stomped her foot as another taxi rushed by.

 

“My, my,” Loki chuckles beside her and she nearly screams.

 

“I didn’t see you,” she clutches her heart trying to calm herself.

 

“I’ve been standing here for awhile,” he made a mild gesture to signify ‘here’ before taking a long drag from his cigarette.

 

“Oh,” she was not really sure what do say, _why didn’t you say something?_ Or _Why didn’t you help me catch a friggin’ taxi?_ This was the first time they had been alone together since he given her the job offer and the silence stretched on. What was he even doing 10 feet from the office?

 

“Your coffees taste terrible Jane,” he flicks the ash into the gutter, “make it again and I probably have to fire you. Terry can make them from now on.”

 

“Yes sir,” Jane hid her smile in her scarf, his insult didn’t have much sting, after all it meant she was too important to be doing coffee runs. She did felt a slight pang of guilt for poor not-Terry

 

A limonene pulls up in front of them both and out steps the most stunning women Jane has seen with golden blonde hair and bright green eyes.

 

“Loki,” the woman stretches her hand out and he takes it tossing the cigarette aside.

 

“You’re late, Amora,” Loki caresses Amora’s hand with his thumb and Jane suddenly feels uncomfortable. Loki briefly glances at her, “see you in the office.”

 

After that going home felt sad. She hadn’t known it but she had secretly hoped a naïve hope that they would laugh together the way they had under the wisteria trees. She whipped out her phone and furiously texted Darcy. _Fuck it, I’m coming out._

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Jane,” Loki watches Jane struggle with the photocopier, “these grown men out in the office can’t make a decision on which envelope we should use in the office.”

 

Loki holds up two seemingly identical cream envelopes.

 

“Um,” she slams her fist against the dastardly machine and it finally jerks to life. Her neatly stacked pile of folders topples to the floor, “piece of junk.”

 

“Envelopes,” he wiggles them waiting for her answer. She shoots him an exasperated look snatching them.

 

“I was a child genius you know? And here I am,” Jane opens them and Loki watches as she licks the inside, “that one tastes better.”

 

“Child genius indeed,” Loki kicks one of the files on the floor and she shoots him a _now if you’re done leave me alone_ look. He kicks another file. She scrunches the failed photocopy on her hand the temptation all too clear. He kicks another files sending it sliding to the other side of the room. She strikes, the ball of paper hitting him square on his chest.

 

“Are you going to help me pick that up?” She is reaching behind her for another piece of paper.

 

“No,” he has already won being the closest to the waste paper basket.

 

So far she has been able to handle anything he has thrown at her. Each time he’d been impressed with her quick practical solutions and amused by how tedious she found it all. The last time he asked her about which water dispenser to get they had gotten into an argument, nothing too heated to his standards. The whole department stopped in their tracks to watch their indifferent boss get heated over water volume. The show ended when they started throwing plastic cups at each other.

 

He leaves Jane to pick up the paper and wage war with the machine in high spirits. Jane hits him once more between the shoulder blades before he leaves the room.

 

“Gentlemen you can stop wasting my time. Speaking of, Terry! Get a Photocopier built in this millennium please. I’m starting to see why people believed in Y2K.”

 

* * *

 

 

 

“I honestly didn’t think you’d last this long,” he interrupts her in the middle of her proposal. He looks up at her with a lazy smile, his fingers tracing a pattern on his desk. She furrows her brow in a show of suspicion.

 

“I’m not accustomed to you being so honest,” she sits looking him dead in the eye, “why did you hire me in the first place?”

 

He had grown accustomed to her honesty, when is came to her opinion. He could spot her lies. It became an amusing game to him. There had been times were he, almost not of his own volition given hints to the wedding. Always gauging her reaction to it like a careful science.

 

“After we took over the company we thought the best way to put everybody at ease was to hire within,” he wonders of she could spot his lies.

 

“Ah better to have them quit.”

 

“That is also true,” Loki leans back in his chair a little irked at her indifference and considers if he should bring up the water dispenser again, “but you’ve come so far.”

 

“Don’t act like you’re proud if you never had any faith in me to begin with,” she smiles as if she knew this would be the closest thing she would get to an apology.

 

“Lets start over,” Loki takes a small tin out from his desk, “chocolate?”

 

“Do my colleagues get such special attention?” She raises an eyebrow, and he can see from the curl of her lip she is doing her best not to show her irritation,“ Or is it because I’m the smartest kid in class?”

 

‘No, they prefer cigars,” he offers her one quickly along with the smile he uses to close deals.

 

“I’d prefer the chocolate.”

 

He chuckles when she takes one earning him a sharp glare.

 

* * *

 

 

 

“You know…”Jane swings the golf club into the ground, “When I told you where the shareholder you wanted to harass was going to be, I didn’t think I would have to come.”

 

“If you’re here, he won’t be so intimidated” Loki covers her hand stopping her from mangling the green. “He is going to underestimate you.”

 

_Because you’re a woman._

 

She digs the club into the ground. She has no delusions that the world is fair and equal. The men in this world are always going to look down on her.

 

“And he has a wife, he’ll respond better to a couple,” he snatches the club from her, “and if you’re here it doesn’t…”

“Seem like we are stalking them,” Jane finishes for him. It’s her day off. The day she usually spends with her studies. With her friends. With Thor. _Why didn’t you take Amora_ she wants to say.

 

“Quit complaining,” he fixes a visor on her head smiling don at her frown, “You’re getting paid overtime.”

 

Watching Loki work his charm on others in something fearsome to behold. Even in his bright green polo and white shorts, he can play the part to perfection. Jane thinks he looks good, but it doesn’t suit him. Loki wore masks and costumes with seamless ease; none of them seems to be really him. She has grown tired of unpicking the mystery of which is the mask and which is the man. She knows she will never see the Loki who swept her off her feet that night.

 

Jane doesn’t agree with his tactics, at times they disturb her. He way he can dig deep and strong arm the things people keep hidden deep inside themselves. She has been picking up a few tricks from him, careful not to fall into his habits. Loki wriggles his way into the shareholder’s game without breaking a sweat.

 

She knows the way Loki smiles at her at times, that is genuine.

 

“It’s your turn,” like the way he smiles at her now, like he’s trying not to blurt out the punch line to a joke.

 

“Oh no, I don’t know how to play,” Jane gestures for them to keep playing their ridiculous game.

 

“I’ll teach you,” his fingers curl around her wrist and she follows him making sure he catches her eye roll. He curls his body over hers and he wraps her in his arms to guide her hands on the club. She touch is softer than usual, the warmth of his body and his breath in her ear is enough for her heart to pick up pace. Enough for her to remember the last time she felt his warmth.

 

“Legs apart,” Loki taps her foot with his, “bend over a bit.”

 

“There really isn’t point in me trying,” Jane shuts out images of Loki saying those words with his hands sliding up her thighs.

 

“Oh I know,” he begins to sway their bodies to take the shot, “but the wife she hates playing and our target is competitive. Once we botch the shot she’ll use you as an excuse to go back to the club and start on the margaritas early.”

 

The golf ball flies off into the trees and Loki unfurls himself from her. He tells her she’s done well for her first time and pats her on the back.

 

Jane spent the rest of the afternoon trying to keep up with the wife’s appetite for cocktails and seafood.

 

The next thing she remembers is waking up in a limousine with Loki shaking her shoulder.

 

“Time to go home.” Loki helps her out, letting her lean on his outstretched arms for support. She slowly takes in her surroundings finally recognizing her apartment building. She groans and nearly sinks to her knees; Loki catches her limp hanging body.

 

“What happened?”

 

“You fell asleep.”

 

“The lift is broken,” she whines, she feels the burn at the back of her throat and knows she is going to be sick later. She mentally puts cocktails and seafood on her list of ‘never again.’

 

“Fine, I get it, no more golf,” he tries to settle her on her feet. She ends up stumbling into his arms in an awkward embrace.This is the first time since starting the job that she has relied on him, she has made it all on her own. She's proud of that. If she wasn't still drunk, struggling to stand and liking the feel of his arms around her she would be angry that he helped her. 

 

“I didn’t mind the golf,” Jane slurs. Her eyelids feel heavy and she feels as if she could fall asleep right there in his arms.

 

“No more shrimp then,” he strokes the top of her head, “alright, hop on.”

 

Jane doesn’t catch his meaning until he is half way through manoeuvring her onto his back. With energy she didn’t know she possesses she jumps onto his back. She rests her head on his shoulder stuck halfway between sleep and laughter. And on the third flight of stairs he starts laughing too.

 

“Your apartment is a shoebox,” Loki says as he tucks her into bed. She’s too tired to open her eyes instead she listens to his voice and the sound of his movements.

 

“I haven’t had time to find a knew one.”

 

“Find time,”  he says flatly. She can hear him walking around the room stopping to inspect something of interest, “I can’t have my right hand man living in a cupboard.”

 

“Did you just promote me?” she giggles.

 

“Nobody is quite as good at making trouble,” she can hear him smile as he says this.

 

“And an attempt at a compliment too. Wait until the people back at the office hear this.”

 

“Are you blackmailing me?”

 

“For another compliment. Yes.”

 

“Jane Foster,” she hears him walk towards the door, “you interest me.”

 

Jane doesn’t remember much the next morning. She wonders as she holds her pounding head when they had stopped having so many boundaries. Was it when he began to consult her on every issue? Was it the stationary fights when they didn’t agree on something? Probably when he began to rope her into his plots of manipulation. That asshole. Loki is not a good person, she knows that. She knows that its unhealthy that around him she feels needed. Appreciated.

 

“Space and boundaries,” she mumbles praying that some kind soul will get her coffee for her.

 

* * *

 

 

 

He almost knew without looking, a shiver ran up his spine and goosebumps spread across his forearm. Loki turns away from Amora reading her menu and sees Jane walk in.

 

“You made it!” Thor pulls her in for a bear hug.

 

“Yes I did! It’s been too long,” she wheezes into his chest. It’s the first time Loki has seen her in a dress since the wedding. Thor pulls out a chair for her to sit and she flusters a thank you with a faint blush and a petite smile.

 

This won’t do.

 

It’s Jane who sees him coming over first. He can see her calculating just how bad this situation is.

 

“Loki?” Thor stands, the screech of his chair pushing out behind him draws the attention of nearby tables. Thor truly lacks grace.

 

“I see you’ve met my associate,” Loki can see his smug expression is putting Thor on edge. 

 

“We’re good friends,” Thor steps closer his expression pleading, “Mother misses you.”

 

The poor fool probably thinks he can reconcile their broken family.

 

“I’m sure she does,” if he is honest with himself he misses her too, but its been made all too clear to him that the Odinson family is not his. Loki stops a waiter in his tracks and orders a bottle of red.

 

“We’ll need it,” he winks at them both before gesturing for Amora to join them.

 

“We are expecting more people,” Jane says giving him that _now please leave me alone_ look as he sits beside her. He hasn’t seen that look in a long time, while he had missed it, tonight it irritates him. They all sit in silence, Loki imagines that for Jane and Thor its unbearable. It is situations like these that Amora and Loki thrive.

 

“Goodness me, it is odd seeing you here without Sif, it’s her favourite place!” Amora starts her work on Thor, leaning forward to show more of her cleavage, “not having a lovers tiff are you?”

 

Thor shifts in his chair looking over at Jane before answering.

 

“No Amora, Sif is on business in Norway.”

 

“When the cats away the mice come out to play huh?” Amora glances over at Jane while brushing her hand against Thor. Amora’s cheap methods work like a charm, and Loki can already see the chasm begin to form between Jane and Thor.

 

Conversation ceases as the waiter pours the wine. Jane snatches her glass and takes a deep drink.

 

“Loki,” Thor tries again, “can we talk in private?”

 

“Lets not waste our time,” Loki leans back, his arm draped over the back of Jane’s chair, a habit he has developed of late.

 

“I’ve been talking to father…” Thor’s brow furrows at their proximity.

 

“Not my real father,” Loki says to Jane, who nods clutching her wine glass.

 

“You are still a son to him.”

 

“He cut me out of the Will because we aren’t blood,” he continues filling Jane in as if she were late to the meeting, “Odin got into a accident and for a short time we thought he was gone, that’s how I found out I was adopted.”

 

The waiter interrupts and Loki feels Jane sigh with relief beside him.

 

“I think we need a few more minutes,”Amora looks like she’s just switched on her favorite soap opera, “we haven’t come to a decision yet.”

 

“I don’t think I should be here,” Jane stands managing a smile, “ I’m going to wait for Darcy out front.”

 

“I’ll see you Monday morning,” Loki calls after her his gaze lingering as she leaves the restaurant 

 

“Loki,” Thor growls once she is gone, “whatever you’re plotting leave Jane out of it.”

 

“We are plotting” Loki corrects, “did you forget? Jane works with me, she’s helping me tear down the Odinson Empire.”

 

“She is not a pawn you can toss aside,” Thor stands his fists on the table.

 

“Isn’t that what your going to do? You may like her, _brother_ , but in the end it’s going to be Sif. Because you wouldn’t dare go against Odin.”

 

Thor grabs Loki’s shirt and hauls him onto his feet. The people around them gasp. Loki is laughing, it was all too easy to wind up Thor and he’s almost disappointed when Thor stills his fist. A bruise on his face would put more distance between Jane and Thor.

 

Thor sighs and drops Loki back into his chair.

 

“I’ll be waiting when you’re ready to talk,” Thor looks at him with pity before leaving.

 

“You got it pretty bad,” Amora fills her glass to the brim.

 

“Got what?” Loki has known Amora for a long time and their relationship has never been more than casual. In some ways they are too similar to enjoy each other’s company for long periods of time.

 

“Don’t play dumb with me,” one of the talents they share is reading people, “If you don’t do something Thor is going to steal her away.”

 

“I know,” rolls his eyes at her then storms out. His heart is racing. He is either too angry or too nervous to work out what he is going to say to her. A part of him thinks he shouldn’t say anything at all. He has wanted to do it for a while now. Take her into his arms and taste her again.

 

Jane isn’t alone when he finds her. She’s holding Darcy’s hand and Ian holds Darcy’s other hand. Thor is speaking to her, his hands held together in front of him. Loki hides himself in a door way and listens through the sounds of the street.

 

“I can’t stand by any longer, Jane, come work with us. We will take care of you. Loki only cares about himself, everybody else are game pieces to him. There is no future there.”

 

“He is kinda right, Jane,” Darcy insists, “but you don’t have to work with Thor either, what happened to all your research? Science is your passion ya nerd.”

 

“I was ridiculed by the science community, Darcy.”

 

“No you gave up.”

 

“Let's talk about this later, I just want to go home,” she lets go of Darcy’s hand.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Jane lands harshly on her knees. Her colleagues flock to her, fawning suits bend over to collect her papers off the pavement. Terry asks if she can stand on her own offering his sticky hand. They are a den of thieves. They are wolves that salivate at the smell of money. They are finely dressed beggars. If you are in favor with Jane you are in Loki’s favor. It’s the only way to get his good opinion these days.

 

Loki looks down at her taking a long drag from his cigarette. Her knees feel like they are on fire, she’s shaking and unable to meet his eye when he starts laughing at her. It would be worse if he’d asked if she was okay, she knows that, that’s not what they do. She knows that. At least her pants didn’t rip.

 

Terry asks if she can stand on her own offering his sticky hand.

 

 

“She’s fine,” Loki snaps at Terry eying his offered hand with a clear warning. The suits scatter away while Jane does her best to stand without wincing. She feels blood ooze from her knee. With her pride back in check she pushes the pain away. Showing weakness is not an option, not today.

 

“It’s a wonder you graduated elementary school,” Loki flicks the cigarette bud at Terry’s feet and he obligingly moves away.

 

“It’s never too late, pre-school is about to start,” Jane had been preparing for this deal for months. Lately, there has been more on her mind: her peculiar relationship with her boss, Thor’s proposal to switch to Odinsons and the distance she has been feeling with her friends. Not to mention the bomb shell of finding out Thor and Loki are rival brothers.   _Not today_ She charges into the building leading a trail of businessmen.

 

 

Jane excuses herself to the bathroom once the meeting is over. Nobody really notices, they are still baffled by the results of the meeting. Loki had torn down the lawyers and annihilated the lawsuit with such biting cruelty and then left abruptly looking sour after his victory.

 

She curses as she painstakingly rolls her pants up peeling the dry blood and opening the graze again. A trail of blood had run past her ankles.

 

Jane is whipping blood with wet toilet paper when Loki bursts through the door with that same sour expression.

 

“Jesus, Loki,” Jane calms her pounding heart, “What on earth are you doing here?”

 

Loki rattles the first aid kit.

 

“How did you know?”

 

“I saw it on your shoe in the meeting,” he snaps. They never spoke about the night at the restaurant. Jane did her best to act like it never happened, thinking it best not to involve herself further. He hasn't asked her about her relationship with Thor and she hasn't questioned his. However, he had been moodier since.

 

“Did you rush off to get me the first aid kit?” Jane finds he is less likely to be a grouch if she teases him. It also gives her a chance to hide her embarrassment in which he seems to relish seeing in others. When they fall into this banter Jane slips and finds she misses that man she first met. The Loki she almost made love to, the one that should be little more than a fantasy now. She can’t quite let go of him. She can’t stand the thought of having feelings for the man that stands before her now.

 

“Yes,” this would have probably moved her if it didn’t feel like he was reprimanding her. He gestures for her to sit on the counter.

 

“Thank you, I can handle the rest.”

 

Loki rolls his eyes at her and in one swift movement he lifts her and dumps her on the counter. He stares down at her as a silent reiteration that he is angry before he begins rifling through the kit.

 

“Really, I can do it.”

 

“What? I thought you said I should take better care of my employees,” Loki kneels down and dabs her wound. His fingers are gentle despite his acid tone.

 

“I said you should be nicer,” Jane’s leg twitches so he wraps his hand around her calf to keep it still.

 

“Am I not being nice?” his breath brushes against her leg and Jane tries not to shiver.

 

“I can tell you don’t want to be,” she grits her teeth with the sting of the disinfectant and his thumb strokes her. She feels jittery at the thought that trying to comfort her from the pain.

 

“I won today thanks to you,” his hands reaches up and snatches the bandage from the counter.

 

“Then why the temper?” Jane can’t help it. She knows she has already fallen in too deep, something about the man kneeling before her thrills her. He is manipulative, he is cruel and yet his hands tremble as he winds the bandage around her knee.

 

“Do you think of me as unkind?” he says and Jane thinks in this moment he looks younger.

 

“No, you can be very kind when you need something. What is it you want, Loki?”

 

He clicks his tongue at her clearly not pleased with her answer.

 

“I need you to stay. I want this organisation to be us, so that together we can take this world for all it’s got. If…” Loki’s seems deeper, he looks at her dead in the eye, “If something like this happens again tell me and only me.”

 

“If it bothers you so much I suggest you consider asking next time you see me fall.” Jane nudges his hands away and reties the loose bandage.

 

“Come now-“

 

“And! I won’t use my friendship with Thor to further your ambition,” it’s the only reason why Loki would say those things that Jane can think of.

 

“It seems I have not articulated myself properly.” That is the closest she has gotten to an apology in months. Loki stands, his palms flat on the counter on either side of her and he leans to her eye level.

 

“So it would seem?” Jane leans back a little wary of how close they are.

 

“Are you mine, Jane?” Loki's expression is stone.

 

“Pardon?” Her cheeks feel hot and she feels a twinge in her lower half.

 

“The Odinson’s will not offer you what I have,” Loki gives no indication of noticing her blush. Jane nods her head, frustration now being the cause of her quickened heart beat.

 

“Power?," she scoffs, "You know that an offer like that is meaningless to me.”

 

He clenches his jaw in a rare moment where he cannot say anything. Jane sighs she slides off the counter expecting him to move back. He hovers there his fingers tracing a pattern on the counter as he looks absently past her shoulder. She leans back on the counter to give herself room.

 

“Loki,” she has to call his name a few times before he nods stiffly and lets her pass. She hesitates at the door preemptively regretting her next words.

 

“I’m yours.”

 

One look at his face and she knows that dealing with an angsty Loki would have been more manageable.

 

“See you Monday,” she hurries out the door hating that stupid grin.

 


End file.
